Thursday, February 7, 2019

I've been really obsessed with robot toys lately. I literally just re-did a huge portion of my toy display with the sole intention of dedicating a lot more space to my burgeoning Transformers collection. I think one of the main reasons I feel so consumed by them is that I honestly never thought female robots would be something I could find in the action figure aisles. For a few decades it was quite a boys club. But now they are coming out with increasing regularity. This Whirl figure was a complete surprise to me when I found her in Target. She is from the new show Rescue Bots Academy show that premiered last month on Discovery Family. I haven't seen the show, but I love the design of this character and I'm excited to watch it when it's streaming somewhere (I imagine her to be energetic and spunky). I also expect to see more of Whirl in the toy aisle. My hopes are for one of the smaller scale figures eventually, and maybe even a blind bag or two. Time will tell. Let's check Whirl out in detail below!

Sunday, February 3, 2019

The momentum of Fortnite product doesn't seem like it's going to slow down anytime soon. Every store I go into these days has a decent-sized display of their toys and roleplay weapons. Walmart, Target, GameStop, FYE, even my grocery store (totally not kidding). I don't play video games, but the character designs are so fun that I can't stay away. I especially love the girls dressed in animal onesies (Cuddle Team Leader, Tricera Tops, and Bunny Brawler are my favorites). I think everyone was shocked when Jazwares announced their license for 1:18 scale Fortnite figures. It's been a while since those Assassin's Creed figures of their's came and went. They definitely have a knack for video game properties: Minecraft, Sonic, Megaman, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, etc. I'm hoping there is a second Fortnite wave soon because there are so many more characters to make (and their lines tend to fizzle out unexpectedly). Fingers crossed! Let's check out Brite Bomber, Teknique, and Cuddle Team Leader below!

Friday, February 1, 2019

Jim Lee is one of the most iconic comic artists of my generation. My middle school, high school, and early college years were in the 1990s and his impact on that decade was undeniable. His X-Men run alone would have immortalized him in the Pantheon of all-time greats, but in addition he had excellent work on Punisher, WildCATs, Heroes Reborn, Deathblow, and Divine Right (among many others). But the interesting thing about really distinct illustrators is that more often than not, there styles do not translate well into 3-D. I have always felt that the most notorious case of this has been with Mr. Lee himself. The Hush figures were the best attempts, but they don't really look like his art. Neither did any of the DC Universe Online Statues, and honestly neither do these Rebirth action figures.It has nothing to do with the sculptors either. Literally the most talented names in the action figure market have attempted his style (Brucker, Palinko, and both Matthews!) but I'm beginning to think it's an impossible feat.